1. Young Franz didn’t have many friends and assuaged his loneliness by reading the works of J.W. von Goethe, Blaise Pascal, Gustav Flaubert, and Soren Kierkegaard. 2. Before he became known as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature, Kafka lived in obscurity, working...

1. Wittgenstein was born into a very wealthy Viennese family and grew up in a house where composers Johannes Brahms, Richard Strauss, and Gustav Mahler were frequent visitors. 2. Not surprisingly, as a child, he studied music but went on to focus on mechanical engineering...

1. Winston’s teachers described him as unambitious, rebellious, and violent, and said that he could not be trusted to behave himself in any situation. 2. Even though he was known for his remarkable ability to make stirring speeches, he actually suffered from a speech impediment...

1. Marie attended Warsaw’s “floating” or “flying” university where classes were held underground in secret since women were not allowed at the University of Warsaw. 2. While earning her degree in Paris, Curie lived frugally and ate mostly buttered bread and tea—a diet that often...

1. Oscar Wilde prided himself on his tendency to challenge social conventions, especially the Victorian moral code. He alienated himself through iconoclasm, including his particular sense of style and fashion, such as dressing in colorful velvet and silk. 2. He had three middle names. His...

1. Though the future emperor of France was baptized as Napoléon, his parents nicknamed him Nabulio. In fact, there’s a restaurant called Nabulio in Nice, France, aptly located on Rue Bonaparte. 2. He became France’s ruler, but Napoleon was not a Frenchman by birth nor...

1. As a child, Freud was a good student who, aside from his native German, was also proficient in French, Italian, Spanish, English, Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. He loved to read, especially works by William Shakespeare, which helped him understand human psychology. 2. While commonly...

1. Although he is best known as the painter who created such masterpieces as the “Mona Lisa” and the “Last Supper,” Leonardo da Vinci was also an inventor, scientist, mathematician, engineer, and visionary. He sketched the first bicycle, helicopter, airplane, swinging bridge, motorcar, and hydraulic...

1. Although Descartes is primarily known for his philosophy, he was also a mathematician. He created the rectangular coordinate system, which is also known as the Cartesian coordinate system. It is rumored that he came up with the system while lying in bed, watching a...

1. Niels Bohr worked on the Manhattan Project during World War II, which eventually led to the development of the first atomic bomb. Before this, he worked in London with the equivalent nuclear weapons program known as Tube Alloys. 2. Soccer was important to Bohr,...